Her body trembling in fury, she regarded her lifelong tormentor through slitted eyes. “Do you want a scene? Because I can make a scene that nobody here will ever forget.”
As Josie’s chest heaved with each painful breath, Pamela Ryan looked at her andlaughed.
A scream built inside her, so big it threatened to shake this restaurant to the ground. She had to get out of there. Because the buzzing? Oh, it was still there, hotter and more destructive than ever, but she didn’t dare let it out in the middle of this restaurant.
Thankfully, she knew just where to go.
Twenty-Five
“What’s Fancy doing in the alley?”
“Hmm?” Erik braced his hand on the ceiling of the dining area as he turned the last of the screws on the security camera he’d just mounted.
Gina pivoted the laptop on the café table to face him. “Fancy. She’s fluttering around your van like a malfunctioning car-show booth babe. I saw it on the alley cam.”
That was… puzzling. He tucked the screwdriver in his back pocket and descended the ladder to join Gina at the table. Sure enough, her laptop screen showed video of a dervish pacing around the side of his van, her movements agitated.
“What the…?” He squinted as the figure bent to yank something out of a cardboard box at her feet. “Oh fuck.”
“Problem?”
“Potentially,” he said grimly. “Are we good here?”
“Yep. Your security’s up and running, and you’ll be able to monitor the feeds on all your devices.”
“Thanks. I owe you.”
“Yep. That’s why I’m swiping your van to get the last of my stuff from Iowa some weekend soon.”
“Sure. Pick a day I’m free, and I’ll come along to help load it up.” He looked at the screen again, where security-cam Josie was now standing with her hands on her hips, pissy defiance evident even on the grainy feed. “I need to go handle this.”
Gina grimaced. “Good luck. I think I’ll leave through the front door.”
Erik opened his mouth to tell her that wasn’t necessary, then reconsidered. “I get that.”
She smirked up at him. “You know I’m loving this, right? My no-drama llama’s got himself a class A drama queen.”
“Hilarious,” he grumbled.
“I’m just glad it’s you and not me for a change.”
She grabbed her bag and eased out the front door with a laugh, and once he was alone, he snagged a band from his wrist and yanked his hair back, feeling a little like he was preparing for battle. At the back door, he paused and pulled the screwdriver out of his back pocket, leaving the potential weapon on the counter just to be safe. Then he pushed through the door to confront the pink whirlwind.
“We talked about this, Josie,” he said as he approached her.
“And?” She didn’t bother turning around.
“And I told you I’m not comfortable with it.” The manhole-sized caricature of his face stared idiotically back at him from the side of the van, but he forced himself not to rip the fucking thing down until he figured out what was up.
“And I toldyouit’s part of your brand.” She slammed a hand against the metal and spun to face him. “Not putting the logo on your van is fucking stupid.”
She crossed her arms under her breasts, and although her clothes and hair screamed uptown class, thefight me, motherfuckergleam in her eyes made him rock back on his heels. She reached up and yanked the demure pearl studs out of her ears, dropping them into the purse at her feet. He hadn’t seen that combative look on her face in ages, but here it was now, twisting her pretty features into a snarl.
Gina’d been smart to tiptoe out the front. He didn’t have that same luxury, so he stroked a hand down his jaw as he considered his approach. He could explain that he wasn’t quite ready to drive around in a van with his face plastered to the side, but he was fairly sure she was looking for a different kind of fight.
“Get in the van.”
She set her jaw. “No.”
